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1 vote
3 answers
75 views

How much time does it take for an object to fall from space? [closed]

Let's say there's an object of mass $m$ in space, $h$ meters away from the surface of the Earth. $h$ is large enough that $g$ cannot be assumed to be constant. The acceleration varies according to ...
jazzblaster's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
31 views

Is quadrupole contribution to gravitational potential the sum of the contribution of all $m$ values?

Many of the sources I find on multipole expansions seem to be about electric potential and involve matrices. However, in my classical mechanics class we have not used matrices for multipole expansions ...
toomanyfeet's user avatar
-4 votes
2 answers
117 views

Is Newton's gravitational acceleration centripetal instead of attractive?

In 1845 W. R. Hamilton demonstrated [1] by the use of the hodograph representation that the velocity of any Keplerian orbiter is the simple addition of two uniform velocities, one of rotation plus ...
Hervé Le Cornec's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
40 views

Is there a way to express the collisionless boltzmann equation in terms of positions, velocities, times, without the distribution function?

Suppose I have data that represents a field of positions and velocities. If the distribution function (DF) for the data is $f(x,v,t)$, I know that the DF must obey $$\frac{\partial f}{\partial t} + \...
James Thiamin's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
51 views

In one formula of orbital velocity for circular orbit it has inverse relation with radius while in critical velocity relation it has direct. Why?

In one formula of orbital velocity for circular orbit it has inverse relation with radius $$v=\sqrt{\frac{GM}{r}}$$ while in critical velocity relation it has direct $$v=\sqrt{gr}$$ Why?
Abdul Wasy's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
267 views

How to calculate the period of non-circular orbits?

How to calculate the period of non-circular orbits? By conservation of mechanical energy: $$ E = -\frac{GMm}{r} + \frac{1}{2}\mu \left ( \dot{r}^2 + r^2 \dot{\theta}^2 \right ) $$ By the conservation ...
Álvaro Rodrigo's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
41 views

Potential energy change is not negative? [closed]

$\Delta U = -(W_{earth} + W_{ball})$ $W_{ball}$ is almost 0, as earth's displacement by the falling ball is super small, so $\Delta y$ of the earth could be negligible and $W_{ball} = 0$. so: $\Delta ...
Zaza Orji's user avatar
  • 137
0 votes
2 answers
224 views

Laplace's equation doesnt reproduce Newtonian gravitational potential

Newton's law of gravitation describes the gravitational potential produced by a mass $m$ as : $G(r)=-k\frac{m}{r}$.However if you solve Laplace's equation for the gravitational potential in polar ...
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
111 views

Measuring the effect of spin of a tennis ball on its trajectory

Upward spin (lift) applied to a tennis ball will shorten its trajectory. Are mathematical calculations and actual experimental results on this available somewhere? If not, does anyone know how to ...
Twelvetones's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
182 views

How to prove that a drop of water in the weightlessness of space is round in shape?

How to prove that a drop of water in the weightlessness of space is round in shape theoretically? More specifically, how to prove that a drop of water in the weightlessness of space is round in ...
XL _At_Here_There's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
44 views

How to obtain the equations of motion and trajectory of a particle from the effective potential?

In a certain problem regarding motion of a particle in a gravitational field with axial symmetry, I have an expression of an effective potential $\Phi_{eff}(r,\theta)$. Now, I am interested to study ...
Richard's user avatar
  • 2,015
1 vote
2 answers
158 views

Why does the Lagrangian not show particle-interaction? Why are normal/tension forces not considered?

(1) For formulating a lagrangian for a system of particles compared to one free particle, we start with the kinetic energy and formulate a potential energy term that is in terms of each of the radius ...
Chordx's user avatar
  • 17
0 votes
0 answers
43 views

Why is it important to release energy as quickly as possible to perform a vertical jump?

Let's assume that we create this mechanism, where we must decide if the actuating cylinders are double-acting hydraulic or pneumatic with a spring inside. the goal is for the mechanism to suddenly ...
Matias Nicolas Rodriguez's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
82 views

Conic Section in Newton's Cannonball Problem

From the Classical Mechanics Lecture Notes by Helmut Haberzettl, we know that in Newtonian Mechanics, the solution to Kepler's problem can be parametrized as a conic section equation $$r(\varphi)=\...
Sofvar's user avatar
  • 381
0 votes
6 answers
95 views

Free falling bodies in the absence of external forces

We know that if two balls $B_{1}$ and $B_{2}$ having masses $m_{1}$ and $m_{2}$ respectively and suppose $m_{1}$ is sufficient greater than $m_{2}$. In daily life observation, we see that both the ...
Junaid's user avatar
  • 27
1 vote
2 answers
625 views

How much time after will two oppositely charged particles collide for both gravitational force and electrostatic force?

Suppose two point objects charged with opposite charges $q_1$ and $q_2$ at a distance $r$ in a vaccum. So, the net electrostatic force on both objects $= F_c = \frac {q_1q_2}{4π\epsilon_0r²}$ [$\...
Debanjan Biswas's user avatar
-1 votes
3 answers
178 views

Why gravitational potential away from a planet increases?

textbooks---- "potential increases towards infinity and is maximum at infinity" But that is true only when we are seeing potential w.r.t Earth EXPLANATION--------- So , as we know that ...
TPL's user avatar
  • 444
0 votes
2 answers
57 views

If the change in potential enegry is equal to the negative of the work done, then this principle isn't consistent here in the case freely falling body

Let us assume that a body of mass $m$ falls from height $h_1$ to $h_2$ : Here the Work done by gravitational force (Conservative force) is : $$\mathrm{Force \ ×\ Displacement} = mg \ (h_2-h_1) \tag1$$ ...
Suhas Bharadwaj's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
114 views

What is the effective potential for photons in Newtonian gravity?

I am confused about the movement of photons and their trajectory, I hope you can help me: What kind of path does light follow in Newtonian gravity? What is the effective potential for photons in ...
xioneo's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
3 answers
224 views

Equation of motion of a classic inverted pendulum in free fall

I was thinking in this interesting problem: Suppose we have this inverted pendulum: But without this control force $F$ and the system would by loose from a height $h_0$, with initial velocity $0$ ...
Vitor Figueredo Marques's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
3k views

What happens when the PE equals to zero in the potential energy vs intermolecular distance graph? [closed]

In the potential energy versus inter molecular distance graph, we know that atoms/molecules/particles want to be at optimum distance from each other ie $r_0$ and to the left of this position in the ...
Snehal Saurabh's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
699 views

Why in binary star system the 2 bodies revolve around their center of mass?

Can you prove it mathematically? Is it just an observation? I know the force between them is $\frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}$. Centripetal force on any one of them is $\frac{mv^2}{r_1}$, where $r_1$ is radius of ...
Tilak Shukla's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
120 views

How do you find the position at which three particles obey $m_1 a_1 = m_2 a_2$ if two of the particles form a composite body?

From Classical Mechanics by Kibble: Consider a system of three particles, each of mass m, whose motion is described by (1.9). If particles 2 and 3, even though not rigidly bound together, are ...
GibbNotGibbs's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
648 views

Newton's first law - elevator lift upward and downward force [duplicate]

Why does $F_c$ is equal to $F_g$ and why $F_c$ isn't greater than $F_g$? $F_c$ is moving it upward right, so the force must be greater than gravity to pull it upwards I think.
George G.'s user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
0 answers
188 views

Physical interpretation of the symmetry for the Runge-Lenz vector

In the post What symmetry causes the Runge-Lenz vector to be conserved?, and based on the results of https://arxiv.org/abs/1207.5001, it was it was discussed that the Runge-Lenz vector is the ...
Ivan Burbano's user avatar
  • 3,915
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

When is the effective potential equal to the total energy?

I have a question about the energy of a particle in orbit due to a gravitational attraction. The effective potential given by the gravitational force is defined to be $$ U_{\text{eff}} = \frac{L^2}{...
Robert Lee's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
82 views

Exact distance travelled by an object due to gravity only

I am aware of the fact that for two point masses in space, the time that it will take for them to collide is, T=$\pi \sqrt{\frac{r_i^3}{8GM}}$, where M is the sum of the 2 bodies' masses, $r_i$ is the ...
Orlin Aurum's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
58 views

Justification for the nature of planet's orbit in gravitational field!

In kleppner Mechanics in the chapter central force he derived the polar form of orbit for gravitational force as illustrated below: (first two equations are derived from fundamentals of central force) ...
PRITAM the cat of Newton's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
43 views

Variable mass of orbiting body

Considering an object orbiting earth at radius $R$ and speed $v$, at one moment in time the mass of the object starts to decrease, what will happen to the object in terms of speed and orbit?
hakim47's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
0 answers
54 views

A thought experiment to prove that Newtonian gravity is incomplete [duplicate]

A particle is at rest in one frame having mass $m$. It'll attract another mass proportional to its mass ( newtons law) . We jump into another frame moving close to speed of light. In this frame it's ...
Kashmiri's user avatar
  • 1,270

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